The Face in the Frame

 

The beautiful woman in the frame…a face I’ve loved all of my life…

Hanging in my grandmother’s home from my earliest memory, it moved into my uncle’s home at the time of her passing…

Last fall, a trip made from Arizona to Utah…the car filled with treasured possessions…

…belongings of my grandmother, which my dear uncle was bringing to my mother and me to care for…letters, wedding scrapbook, photos, and two very precious framed portraits…

A terrifying spin on the ice, and the car flipped to it’s side….uncle and aunt—frightened and scraped--but thankfully not hurt badly…precious letters on the  snowy road to be quickly gathered and saved…and a single crack in the glass on the portrait…but everyone—and every thing—safe.

This is my copy of the portrait—made while my grandmother still lived and the portrait was still hanging on her wall…I’ve loved this little copy of mine…

Brita Stina…isn’t that a beautiful name? 

Born in Sweden in 1848…a new-found faith led her and her family—as well as the man who would one day be her husband—across the sea to America…

The family first went to a Swedish community in Minnesota, where she met and married Jonas Ostlund…they soon after crossed the wide country headed west…

 {This BEAUTIFUL vintage frame image is also found on Crafty Secrets’  soon-to-be-available new “Vintage Paper Patterns” CD…}

In their new-found home, they became shop keepers in their new community…

{Lovely vintage paper pattern also courtesy of Crafty Secrets’ new “Vintage Paper Patterns” CD…topped with a bit of soft, pink seam binding tied in a double bow}

They later migrated to Canada, to help in building the canal in Alberta…

{Vintage “pin” ephemera from Crafty Secrets’ soon-to-be-available “Vintage Paper Patterns” CD…covered in Glossy Accents and ringed with Platinum Stickles…looks just like a real brooch, doesn’t it?!}

Five dear children were born into this family…

…and that’s about all I know.  I want so badly to learn more…and so I am searching…

A very large pile of pages of family history—both typed and handwritten by my great-grandmother, Anna, her daughter-in-law, lie on my dining room table…unorganized, unnumbered…just waiting for me to pour over them in the hopes of finding new clues to the life of this beautiful woman…

A new page made yesterday for my heritage album…Brita Stina Anstrom Ostlund…five handmade shabby rosettes at the bottom representing her five children…one of which was my great-grandfather, Hjaldermar…

…more stories for other days…

Later this summer, Brita’s portrait will be coming home with me…I think I’ll leave the cracked glass in place for a while…just another part of her story.

See you soon with something new…

Julie

LiveJournal Tags: Crafty Secrets,Vintage Paper Patterns CD,Brita Stina Anstrom Ostlund,Hjaldermar Ostlund,family history